Surprise
by Darklycopene
Summary: For the Rivetra Secret Santa exchange! Written for WillowTwinkie, who asked for a modern AU with the prompt 'surprise'. I think they enjoyed it, so I hope you will too! - Petra shopping for Levi's present AU! Possible next chapter with smut if I get around to it.


So here it is! Hope you guys enjoy it =3. As always, I don't own SNK.

Merry Christmas everyone :)

Petra maintained a surly scowl on her face as she traversed through the crowds at her local mall. The endless tide of humanity was certainly draining, and the fifteen odd shops she had been into looking for her boyfriend's present had not helped. She sighed and looked to a vacant bench for refuge. Pushing past people to get to her destination, she finally plonked herself down, and sat her hand bag on her lap, before resting her elbows on her knees. She allowed her head to drop slightly, and sighed as she reminisced on the so-far unfruitful expedition. When she started shopping at 8am that morning at the technology department, she was sure she'd find _something _he would like. She surveyed the music devices, laptops, and game consoles, only to find he already owned all of them, or had berated them in a previous discussion about electronics. She had walked out of the shop defeated, after she shot a hopeful glance at the printers and scanners.

Next on her list, she visited a clothes store. Levi had specifically asked for a jacket for winter, a long, wool lined jacket that would fit snuggly around him in the cold weather. Lord knows how Levi hated the cold. Petra walked over to the jackets and picked up the one he had mentioned, smiling triumphantly to herself. She hadn't wanted to get him clothes as his Christmas present, but she figured it perhaps could be a good fall-back plan. She hauled the jacket to the register, and plonked it down on the bench.

"Oh, Petra! Happy Holidays, how are you?" The cashier asked.

Petra looked up to the cashier and smiled.

"Happy Holidays to you too, Sasha. I'm just looking for a present for Levi."

The brown haired girl smiled widely.

"Well let's see the haul then!" Sasha unfolded the jacket, searching for the price-tag to scan and immediately her smile turned into a frown.

Petra noticed her change of expression and raised an eyebrow

"Anything wrong, Sasha?"

Sasha pursed her lips, the frown still creasing her forehead. She hummed to herself loudly, before wrapping the jacket in her folded arms.

"You can't get this one, Petra. Hanji was already in here earlier today. She brought it for Levi!" She smiled apologetically, and put it under the bench to be put back on the shelf.

Petra frowned. Hanji was of course one of her best friends, as well as one of the only other girls in their social circle. She sighed unevenly before giggling slightly.

"Sounds about right. I think Hanji was as lost as I am for finding presents!"

"Sorry, Petra. Is there anything else he might like? Maybe a nice button up shirt to contrast his scary personality?" Sasha offered.

Petra smirked. "Perhaps you can show me what you have available. I'm sure there will be _something _he'll like!"

Sasha nodded determinedly and pulled Petra around the shop, showing her things she thought Levi might like. A few of them Petra nodded at, and she carried them with her folded over her arm. Before long, Sasha had other customers to serve, and Petra nodded and told her to carry on with her job.

She walked around the shop for another half an hour, surveying everything on the racks and shelves. She picked up a few more items of clothing, shook her head and placed them back. Of the clothes she had selected with Sasha, she put all but two of them back, staying with a button up shirt and Christmas styled cravat. She looked at the cravat and smiled, Levi had always been fond of them, and had a dozen white ones in his drawer that were always meticulously cleaned and pressed. The green one with red Christmas trees on it would certainly not fit in his collection, but she figured it was the thought that counted.

After paying for the clothes, she walked through the mall somewhat aimlessly, looking for shops that could perhaps house the special gift she was looking for. She visited jewellery shops looking for watches or chains, but realised that she had already brought these gifts for him in Christmas's past. Not to mention, none of them available would suit Levi's abrupt, curt personality.

She walked past movie stores selling DVD's and upon searching through the collection, also found nothing Levi would have wanted. A few of the DVD's she had picked up, but her better judgement told her she was clutching at straws. Levi never was one for watching many movies, he instead liked to focus on his take-home work, an expected part of his day-job.

As she walked out of the shop, she hummed to herself. "What does he like to do?" She mused quietly. All of the things they did together were experiences; walks on the beach, lunches at restaurants or resting in the lounge room chatting late at night. She concluded that Levi in fact had everything he already wanted, and that he was selfish for only voicing his desire for one present.

Sorting through the bedlam that was the shopping centre proved to be the most time consuming part, and when she flicked out her phone to check the time to find it was only 10.30am, she felt defeated. This brought her to her current situation; sitting on the bench, watching people swarm past her with hands full of shopping bags, and most of them with scowls to rival hers.

She dug through her handbag once more, searching for her mobile. She pulled it out and flicked it on, looking for some sort of distraction. No texts, no new emails and no missed calls. She sighed and slipped it back in her bag.

"Doing some shopping, Petra?"

Petra looked up to the offending voice and nodded wearily as they sat next to her.

"Hi Erwin. Levi's Christmas present. It's driving me mad."

Erwin took a deep breath and smiled charmingly. "I'm sure whatever you have selected will satisfy him."

Petra raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really." She said, reaching into her handbag and pulling out the clothing she brought. She pulled it from the plastic bag and presented the folded shirt and cravat to Erwin.

His facial expression changed briefly to mild distaste, before plastering a smile in its place.

"Well, it's certainly a unique present, Petra."

Petra pursed her lips and snatched the articles of clothing from him. "I know it's terrible. It's all I can find though, Erwin! He's impossible to buy for!" She said huffily, stuffing them back into the plastic bag and into her handbag.

Erwin nodded solemnly, and let his eyes roam over the people crowding around them. Letting out a thoughtful 'mmm', he put his hands into his pants pocket.

After a slight silence between them, Petra looked at Erwin again.

"So, what have you brought him?"

Erwin's glance moved slowly from the crowd back to Petra, and he smiled wryly.

"A gift-card, of course."

Petra's lips once again pursed, and she rolled her eyes.

"Taking the easy way out, I see." She paused and sent a condescending look his way. "As usual."

Erwin raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Not at all, Petra. I know Hanji has already purchased the coat he wanted, and I am well aware he doesn't require or want anything else. He will most likely end up giving the gift card back to me for my birthday in October, like he has for most of the years I've known him."

Petra frowned.

"Isn't that a bit" she paused, waving her hand around in front of her. "sad? I mean, still doing it after all this time"

Erwin snorted lightly.

"It's tradition." He turned his head to the crowd once more, and looked out of the corner of his eye at her. "Besides, nothing could top his present for you this year."

Petra, whose eyes had also wandered back to the crowd, snapped her attention back to the blonde man beside her.

"What? Do you know what it is? Do you have any ideas for things that could be better?" She grabbed at his sleeve and tugged on it.

Erwin chuckled lightly and stood up, letting Petra's hand fall off his arm.

"I've said too much. I'd best go find Hanji and head home. Merry Christmas, Petra." And with that, he sauntered off into the crowd.

Petra mumbled under her breath crankily. "Merry Christmas to you too."

Three weeks later, on the night before Christmas, Levi and Petra sat on the carpet by the Christmas tree awaiting the unwrapping of their main present. The fire crackled lightly near them, and their pyjamas were perfectly warm. It was a tradition that they had always followed, something they called their own, and of course, this year was nothing different. Levi reached underneath the Christmas tree and pulled out the present Petra had signalled to him that contained his present.

She smiled sadly at him.

"I'm really sorry about this" she said, motioning to Levi's present. "I just- you're so hard to buy for. What do you get the man who has everything." She said, a slight chuckle leaving her lips.

Levi stopped and looked at Petra, a smirk on his face and an eyebrow raised. "You."

Petra frowned and tilted her head slightly to the side.

"We've been going out for four years, Levi. I'm fairly certain I'm 'yours" she said, bringing her fingers up to her face and making pseudo inverted commas.

Keeping the smirk on his face, Levi placed his present down on the ground and reached for a small box labelled 'Petra'. He held it in his hands for a moment and looked at it sternly, before handing it over to Petra.

"Do yours first." He said officially.

Petra raised an eyebrow at Levi before looking down at the present. It was small, easily fitting into the palm of her hand, and as she traced her fingers around the edges of the present, she found it was hexagonal in shape.

She looked up at Levi once again.

"It's a weird shape."

Levi breathed in through his nose, briefly remembering Petra's present opening rituals. Slow and steady, it was the same. He sighed out his breath and looked pointedly at her.

"Just open it."

Petra nodded slowly and pulled at the ribbon surrounding it. She put it to one side, and slowly picked the tape off the wrapping paper, before gently removing the paper and folding it. She hadn't even seemed to notice the small wooden box that was housed within the wrapping paper, and Levi snorted lightly at her present-opening ritual. After she pressed out the creases in the folded wrapping paper, she turned her full attention to the wooden box. She frowned at it, and brought it to her eye-level, examining it closely.

Levi, having watched Petra tediously open the present and then examine it, found himself on his last nerve.

"Just open the box, Petra."

Petra waved her hand at him.

"Alright, alright. I just wanted to savour the moment." She said, lifting open the box's lid.

She gasped, and her eyes widened at the small ring inside. It was simple, a gold band with three small, square diamonds on it, perched neatly in velvet folds. It glinted softly in the fire's light, looking delicate and elegant.. She tore her eyes away from the ring, and looked dumbstruck at Levi.

He blinked at her stoically.

"Life as a whole is shit. But you make it less shit. Spending my life with you would be my greatest achievement. So, Petra Ral." He leant over to her, and plucked the ring from its box. "Be my wife. Be mine"

Although Petra was staring at Levi, she intermittently flicked her eyes down to the demure, beautiful ring in his hands. She gulped before letting a small puff of air out of her mouth.

"Levi. I- Of course." She said, tears beginning to form in the corner of her eyes. "Of course!"

She launched herself over to him and fell into his arms, giggling and yet tears streaming down her face. He hugged her tightly and placed a light kiss on her shoulder, a small smile evident in the corner of his mouth. When she finally pulled away from him, she held out her finger.

He slipped the band onto her left ring finger, and Petra gasped, covering her mouth with her right hand as she marvelled at it. She kissed Levi sweetly, before pulling away to look at the ring yet again, the diamonds sparkling in the soft evening light. She had never seen anything more perfect.

"So was Erwin right?" Levi asked, as he looked at the ring on her finger.

Petra looked up and gave Levi a quizzical look. "About what?"

"Does my present top yours?" He asked.

Petra blinked momentarily before erupting into riotous laughing. As her laughter died down, she managed to choke.

"I think that's safe to say, Levi. I got you a Christmas themed cravat!"


End file.
